LULLABIES FOR LITTLE CRIMINALS (Heather O'Neill)

I love books about childhoods. I love young narrators that tell it how it is. This is very difficult to do because so many books that are told through the eyes of a child are told in a very awkward, awful way that only causes me frustration at how unnatural it sounds. Few are done in a way that makes you want to keep turning pages and laugh and feel and take in that voice that you might relate to, but even if you don’t relate you get lost in a young person’s perspective and you remember what’s it like to go back to that innocent and pure state of mind where you’re observing your life and trying to make sense of it all; and then in this book you throw in a dysfunctional adult or two and it becomes a rollercoaster ride. This tale takes place in Canada, mostly in Montreal. It’s the story of a 12 year old girl named Baby who was born to young parents and ends up living with her dad (her mother dies before Baby can remember her), who at age 27 doesn’t seem to have a clue how to be a father, but the reader (I wager this because it’s how I felt) sympathizes with him despite his bad decisions and drug habits. Baby is the narrator, so you see what she sees and feel what she feels when her father comes home high (mostly ambivalent at first but she ends up preferring him that way), and you’re following along her stream of consciousness and just know that the girl is quirky, but that’s the part I most appreciated about the story. I loved how just a hint of off-beat thoughts filtered throughout the story and how you can pick these little gems of a 12 year olds unvarnished philosophy of life, for example: People give you a hard time about being a kid at twelve. They didn't want to give you Halloween candy anymore. They said things like, "If this were the Middle Ages, you'd be married and you'd own a farm with about a million chickens on it." They were trying to kick you out of childhood. Once you were gone, there was no going back, so you had to hold on as long as you could.” –Baby from Heather O’Neill’s, Lullabies for Little Criminals.Baby is taken away a few times when her father succumbs to sickness in his lungs (I forget what it was) and she goes into a foster home and then later on a detention center for kids. She dates a pimp and essentially becomes a prostitute, but as the reader you understand that that’s not what the book is about. These horrendous circumstances are present for this girl's life and you probably think, man this sucks a lot for her, but it’s the writing that gets you. The cleverness of it and how deep you go into the psyche of this preadolescent, highly likeable character. I couldn’t put it down and even though there wasn’t a classic plot it made me appreciate the story that much more. I loved the strength of Baby and the way she thinks and how she deals with each setback. It’s just one thread of how a life can be played out when the nuclear family isn’t what you get and how badly a girl can need a mother in her life and yet still survive with a less than stellar dad.